Seating.



E. G. BUDD.

SEATING.

APPLICATION FILED IuLY 24. 190s.

1,159,356. Patented Nov. 9, 1915.

ATTORNEY *i rra sarna entran ernten.

EDWARD G. BUDD, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO HALE-KILBURN METAL COMPANY, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENN- SYLVANIA.

SEATING.

Speccation of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 9, 1915.

Application filed July 24, 1908. Serial No. 445,087.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD Gr. BUDD, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Seating, of which the following is a specification.

rThis invention is directed to the improvement'of the construction of seats of the type commonly employed in railway cars and has reference more particularly to the seat-ends and arm-rests of seats for this and similar uses.

In the manufacture of car-seats it has been found highly desirable to Vemploy metallic parts to a very large extent in order that the structure may be fireproof, and to secure greater strength. In accordance with this method of manufacture, a seat-end has been provided for the aisle end of a carseat formed of two sheet-metal plates pressed to the desired shape and secured together at their edges with open space between them; and an arm-rest has been secured upon the upper edge of this seat-end, this arm-rest being formed of one or more metallic parts and having a downwardlyT eX- tending projection on the bottom thereof adapted to coact with the upper edge of the seat-end to position the arm-rest thereon. I have found that it is undesirable to so construct the arm-rest that the upper surface thereof is of metal since the arm of an occupant of the seat is frequently in contact with this surface and would be chilled if metal were employed at this point. On the other hand, it is desirable to employ metal in the construction of the arm-rest in order to secure 4the advantages of increased strength, low manufacturing` cost and fire-proof construction. I have therefore provided an improved form of arm-rest in which the material of the upper surface is non-metallic. Preferably material is employed for this purpose which may be molded into the desired form so as to give to the arm-rest a graceful, smooth contour and one which will be most conducive to the comfort of the occupant of the seat. Various non-metallic materials may be employed for this purpose which are poor conductors of heat and which may be molded to the desired form; thus rawhide and hard liber are well suited for this purpose as is also a specially prepared leather which may be molded into form and which becomes quite hard. Any one of these materials may be molded to the proper shape so as to form a shell which while being comparatively thin, possesses ample strength.` This stiff, non-metallic shell may form the upper half of the armrest, its edges being secured to the lower half which for the purposes above pointed out is preferably made of sheet-metal. This molded shell may be made of such strength that it need not be reinforced by a metallic part but if desired the arm-rest may be constructed in somewhat the same manner as has been done heretofore, having the upper part of metal and a thin, stiff nonmetallic covering may be applied over this upper metallic part; in this case the non-metallic material is preferably molded into form and may be glued to the sheet-metal part which supports it.

Another feature of my invention resides in the provision of an improved construction of arm-rest, this consisting of two Side plates of sheet-metal and a curved top piece the edges of which interlock with and are secured to the upper edges of the side plates. IVith this form of arm-rest a seat-end may be employed so constructed as to provide side plates having integral upwardly extending projections entering within the arm-rest and coacting with the side plates thereof and bolts may be employed for securing the armrest to these projections.

I have illustrated the preferred embodiment of my invention in the accompanying drawings in which" Figure l is an elevation of the seat-end and arm-rest, broken away and sectioned in part; Fig. 2 is a sectional view on line 2-2 of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a similar view on line 3-3 of Fig. l, and Fig. t is a view similar to Fig. 2 illustrating a modication.

Referring to these drawings, l indicates a seat-end of the general type now employed consisting of two sheet-metal plates pressed to the desired form and secured together at their edges with open space between them, and 2 indicates an arm-rest which is secured upon the upper edge of this seat-end. At each end of the upper edge of each of the plates of the seat-end is an integral, upwardly extending projection 3. Between the projections 3 on each plate two inwardly turned flanges I are provided upon the upper edge of the plate and between these flanges 4 is a similar flange 5, the latter being spaced apart from the flange 4l by a short distance as shown in Fig. 1. The arm-rest consists of two sheet-metal side plates 6 and 7 and a sheet-metal top piece 8. On the lower edge of each of the side plates 6 and 7 is an inwardly extending flange 9 adapted to rest upon one of the flanges 5 of the seat-end. The flanges 9 are at the central portions of the lower edges of the side plates 6 and 7 only and at the ends of those edges the metal of the side plates extends downwardly a. slight distance so that it overlaps the seatend. At its upper and end edges each of the plates 6 and 7 is provided with an inwardly turned flange 9 and a series of projecting teeth 10 at the edge of this flange.

The top piece 8 is of sheet-metal pressed to Y,

the desired form to provide flanges l1 adapted to rest upon the flanges 9 of the side pieces, and downwardly extending flanges 12 at the edges of the flanges 11. In the flanges 12 are openings corresponding in size and position to the projections 10 on the side plates 6 and 7 through which those pro` jections extend to hold the top piece rigidly in position upon the side plates. The side plates and top piece thus constructed are assembled in the manner indicated and are positioned upon the seat-end with the projections 3 extending within the arm-rest and lying alongside the side plates thereof and the flanges 9 resting upon the flanges 5 of the seatend, vspacing sleeves 13 being first inserted between each pair 0f projections 3. This being done a bolt 14 is passed through openings in the side plates 6 and 7 and the projections 3 and through the spacer 13. The end of this bolt is then turned over so as to rivet these parts firmly together. By this construction an arm-rest is provided consisting of a small number of sheet-metal parts which may be readily manufactured at low cost and 'quickly assembled; this armrest, being of metal, is lire-proof and the construction is such that great strength is secured.

I have found that it is quite undesirable that the upper surface of an arm-rest should be of metal on -account of the fact that the arm of an occupant of the seat contacting with the upper surface of the arm-rest would be chilled thereby. I have, therefore, providedan arm-rest so constructed that the upper surface is of non-metallic material which is a poor conductor of heat.

In Figs. 1, 2 and 3, I have shown a thin, stiff shell 15 of non-metallic material applied over the metallic top piece 8 of the armerest; this shell is made of a material which may be molded to the desired form and then hardened so that it will retain this shape, and which is of poor heat-conductivity. Thus, I may make shell 15 of moldable hard fiber or raw-hide or I may employ canvas or leather specially prepared so that it may be molded into form and then hardened to retain its shape. Then a top piece of metal is employed for the arm-rest, as the part 8 above referred to, the non-metallic shell 15 may be molded to the shape of this top piece and glued to it. The material of the shell 15 may be such that a smooth surface is provided on the top of the arm-rest so that the completed structure is of an attractive appearance and it will be seen that as this surface is of non-metallic material, chilling of the arm of the occupant of the seat by contact with the metal, is avoided.

In Fig. 4 I have illustrated a modification of my invention in which the metallic top piece of the arm-rest is omitted and the stiff', non-metallic shell forms the top vpiece of the arm-rest. This shell is constructed in the manner above described except that it may be made somewhatthicker to give it additional strength and its edges are formed to coact with the side members of the armrest 6. Shell 16 of Fig. e is so provided with downwardly extending flanges at its edges having openings' to receive the projections 10 on the side plates 6 and 7 of the arm-rest.

Having described my invention what I claim as new therein and desire to secureby Letters Patent ofthe United States is 1. In seating, the combination of a seatend consisting of two parallel sheet-metal plates secured together Vand having pairs of oppositely-disposed projections extending upwardly from the ends of the upper edges thereof, and laterally-disposed flanges between said projections, and a hollow armrest having' a top and side-plates and lower laterally-disposed flanges on said sideeplates resting on said plate flanges, said projections extending within said arm-rest through the bottom thereof and lying along side the side plates of said armrest, and means for securing together said seat-end plates and arm rest at the said projections of said plates, substantially as set forth.

2. In seating, the combination of aV seatend consisting of two parallel sheet-.metal plates secured together and having pairs of oppositely e disposed projections Y extending upwardly fromV the ends of jthe upper edges thereof, and laterally-disposed flanges between said projections, and a hollowv armrest having a top and side-plates and lower laterally-disposed flanges on vsaid side-platesV resting on said plate flanges, said projections extending within said arm-rest through the bottom thereof and lying along side the side plates of said arm-rest, a spacer between the projections of each pair, and a bolt passing through each spacer and adjacent projections and ar1n-rest members, to secure the zfirmlrest to the seateend, substantially as set ort Copies of this patent may be obtained for at its lateral edges which are secured to the ilanges on the side-plates, said projections entering within said arm-rest, and means for securing the arm-rest to said projections, substantially as set forth.

This specification signed and witnessed this 21st day of July, 1908.

ED'WARD G. BUDD.

lVitnesses R. M. Flims, VALTER M. Sworn.

ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of atents,

Washington, D. G." 

